Gámbaro Fabiana, Goatley Lynnette C, Foster Thomas J, Tennakoon Chandana, Freimanis Graham L, Van Borm Steven, Masiulis Marius, Bušauskas Paulius, Netherton Christopher L, Dellicour Simon
Spatial Epidemiology Lab (SpELL), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
The Pirbright Institute, Pirbright GU24 0NF, UK.
Genome Biol Evol. 2025 May 30;17(6). doi: 10.1093/gbe/evaf102.
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a highly virulent DNA virus that causes African swine fever, a severe hemorrhagic disease affecting domestic and wild pigs, leading to significant animal health burdens and economic losses. Initially limited to the sub-Saharan African region, ASFV genotype II has spread globally and is now a major concern in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Pacific and, more recently, the Caribbean. In this study, we performed phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses using newly sequenced ASFV genomes from Lithuania, combined with previously available complete genomes, to investigate the spatiotemporal dispersal dynamics of ASFV genotype II in Europe. Our analysis suggests that ASFV genotype II has not been recently imported to Europe from other regions; instead, the spread is largely driven by long-distance dispersal, followed by regional (within-country) circulation. The estimated dispersal metrics suggest that ASFV has a slower dispersion capacity compared to other pig-transmitted viruses and is associated with a notable degree of spatial structure. Despite these findings, significant uncertainty remains regarding certain ancestral locations, highlighting challenges related to applying phylodynamic methods to DNA viruses with low genetic variability. Nevertheless, in our study, we managed to implement a phylogeographic framework to investigate major patterns of ASFV dispersion in Europe and the contribution of international importations in the establishment of regional transmission chains. This framework could be further expanded as more genomes become available. Our study emphasizes the need for increased genomic surveillance to enlarge the ASFV genome database to support outbreak control.
非洲猪瘟病毒（ASFV）是一种高致病性DNA病毒，可引发非洲猪瘟，这是一种影响家猪和野猪的严重出血性疾病，会导致重大的动物健康负担和经济损失。ASFV基因型II最初局限于撒哈拉以南非洲地区，现已在全球传播，目前是非洲、欧洲、亚洲、太平洋地区以及最近的加勒比地区的主要关注点。在本研究中，我们利用来自立陶宛的新测序ASFV基因组，结合先前可得的完整基因组，进行了系统发育和系统地理学分析，以研究ASFV基因型II在欧洲的时空传播动态。我们的分析表明，ASFV基因型II近期并非从其他地区传入欧洲；相反，其传播主要由远距离扩散驱动，随后是区域内（国内）传播。估计的扩散指标表明，与其他猪传播病毒相比，ASFV的扩散能力较慢，且与显著的空间结构相关。尽管有这些发现，但关于某些祖先位置仍存在重大不确定性，凸显了将系统动力学方法应用于低遗传变异性DNA病毒的相关挑战。然而，在我们的研究中，我们成功实施了一个系统地理学框架，以研究ASFV在欧洲的主要传播模式以及国际输入在区域传播链建立中的作用。随着更多基因组可得，这一框架可进一步扩展。我们的研究强调需要加强基因组监测，以扩大ASFV基因组数据库，支持疫情防控。
